Summary: Living with the Autobots has become normal for the Yeager family, they moved states to keep a low profile, kept the remaining 'Bots out of trouble for a whole year…then Optimus came back…and it all went to the Pit.
Disclaimer: I own except those you don't recognize, and even then I tweaked others a little...OH! And I do not own Daughtry's "It's Not Over" that I've been using as the title and chapter titles...it fits my story and I love it's theme for the fourth movie, kinda forgot about til now...whoops
Review please, they are my fuel and without them I starve and do not write...
:comm link:
"radio/Bee's lyrics"
To Shadow fang the black wolf, and 3PrincessesofAsgard: Thank you for the follow!
To Shadow Kat: Wait and see! Thank you!
Warning: Swearing...aka Leo and Wheelie being themselves
Chapter Ten
Taken all I could take
Xxx September
Optimus slept horribly that night, waking even more exhausted, and feeling sick to his tanks. Drift was nowhere to be found when he finally convinced his legs to support him when he tried to stand, and judging by Leo's car also gone, the two had taken the rental back to a dealer, another way the hacker had stayed off the grid, using cash and rentals to remain out of the DMV records.
Hound was out with Trey and Tony in the far pastures, the radio on Cade's hip was going non stop as he changed Bumblebee's oil outside his workshop, waving to Optimus when the mech crouched near them, mostly because he was likely to fall if he didn't.
"Leo gave Crosshairs a loaded hard drive, he's sorting through it right now to get a basic design running, then Joshua and I are going to get it going. He also made a copy that Cheryl's got locked in a case in her gun cabinet, just in case."
Prime nodded, servo going to his helm when pain flared.
"Aw c'mon I didn't mean it...don't you dare-FRAG!"
Both of them looked up at Wheelie's shout, watching as he bounced across the road from where he was supposed to be acting as Kate's note taker while she and Tessa weighed a pen of steers for a private buyer. Apparently he'd pissed Kate off enough she followed through on Leo's threats.
Brains was laughing like a maniac, barely hanging on to the bars of the chute where he was out of Kate's reach unless she really wanted to get him.
Tessa chased after the now toy Tonka truck, laughing as he spun out and flipped before shooting under Bee to hide.
"Told ya she wasn't in the mood for jokes."
"Yeah well...she oughta treat me with more respect!"
Cade snickered at the muffled complaints, patting Bee's side panel when the camaro shook with laughter, replacing the cap back on the oil reservoir and closing Bee's hood.
"I think you have to earn it first."
Muffle grumblings preceded a yelp as Tessa had crawled underneath Bee, swatting at Wheelie to get him to move.
The truck darted forwards, almost spinning his tiny tires out on the gravel until a massive hand picked him up instead, the palm turning over as he transformed.
"What the...oh, mornin' Boss."
Prime's optics narrowed marginally, "I'm assuming you volunteered to aid the girls in their work, or were asked and agreed?"
"Yes sir..."
"Then I suggest you finish your task, without aggravating them further."
"...alright..."
Wheelie waited until Optimus lowered his servo enough so his jumping wouldn't damage anything, transforming in midair to roll and follow Tessa back to the scales and chute.
"Why do I get the feeling that's an all too common conversation with that one?"
Before Prime could reply, Bee's radio blasted a laugh track as he shook violently, transforming and falling to one side as his voice synthesizer whined and cracked.
"...way too...familiar...he's a baaad kitty...yep, yep, yep...he is!"
Cade smirked at the broken speech, glad to see Bumblebee laughing and enjoying himself. It wasn't something very common among the Bots.
Optimus let the scout act like a child, a small grin on his face plates when Bee finally composed himself and stood up, doorwings still shaking as Prime rested a servo on his shoulder, squeezing gently.
Bumblebee did the same, optics bright and warm as the light blue met deep sapphire. Optimus let him go a moment later, nodding as the scout just about bounced away to go see exactly what the girls were doing since the clanging of gates had switched to short squeals and laughing.
"Never ceases to amaze me how human you guys can seem...or well how 'alien' we may act..."
A low hum slid from the large mech while Cade picked up his tools, actually remembering to put them away instead of leaving them scattered around, one too many times of having to unwedge a wrench from between armor panels and metal joints while Hound was mid-transformation was one time too many. Prime had simply shaken his head in exasperation upon hearing about that.
Cade leaned against the workshop door, watching Prime stare out over the horse pen, Ferric chasing Scope and a striped dun named Hornet and making quite the racket.
"It used to amaze me how similar and yet so different Earth was to Cybertron, how beautiful it used to seem..."
Looking back, the tone of Prime's voice both awed and scared Cade at that moment, and he probably should have kept the conversation going longer than he did, but just how Prime spoke...he couldn't continue.
"And now...?"
"I question whether it was right to continue our defense of this planet."
xxx
xx
xxx
His internal chronometer read 3:17am when he woke from recharge, a soft groan sliding from him as he rocked on his axles a little, shifting old joints that seized up once in awhile. The other bots were still deep in recharge, even Prime, who from what Cade had said, hadn't had a good day, acting like he was in pain for quite some time.
Cheryl was out on her shift, and wouldn't be back until late morning, she was hoping to get her cruiser back.
Hound was just slipping back into recharge when two sets of tires rolled back up the driveway and parked near the house, his processor was fuzzy with sleep, he figured it was Trey and Tony coming back from a rare night out...
Then he remembered he was sitting right next to Tony's truck...
xxx
Prime jerked awake with a shout, transforming amidst total chaos. Three government SUV's were in the driveway, agents fighting the humans in the house, another set were aiming guns at the bots...
...
Cade could barely see, barely breathe...someone had come into his bedroom, he'd hazily sat up, and gotten a knock to the back of the head. At some point when two guys were dragging him out of the house, he'd tried to wrench free, earning a pretty hard punch to his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs.
Kate and Tessa were just as panicked, Tessa sobbing as they loaded her in the back of and SUV, sticking Joshua and Shane in the same vehicle with agents filling the rest of the seats. Wheelie had called Cheryl the second the gate had been blown open, literally...they'd used a bomb...
Leo was already handcuffed and in a vehicle, Brains and Wheelie in a dog kennel, both suffering from damage brought on by kicks from the men.
Two mustang cruisers came roaring up the drive, lights and sirens blaring and adding to the noise in the yard. Cade could hear the Bots yelling and fighting back, trying not to shoot to avoid accidents.
Cheryl marched up to the only man in a suit not holding on to another person, "You sonuva bitch! Get the-"
Prime came running when Cheryl screamed and went down, the punch hitting her square in the eye. Immediately, one of the men who'd gone to restrain the cop pointed his gun at the mech, only making things worse when Prime pulled his own gun.
David, the other cop, pulled his own gun, pointing it at Prime's assailant.
"What the hell is going on here, gotta have a warrant gentlemen to make arrests."
"We don't need one Officer Anderson, the terms of the contracts were finite, and Katherine here broke them."
Kate growled, struggling harder and crying out when a hand gripped her hair. It was taking two guys to keep her contained and even then they were struggling.
"What...Kate?"
She glanced to Prime before looking to Cade, "I didn't break the terms, the rule was only a few on site at a time, it's been the same for over a year."
"And then Prime arrived...and you didn't bother to inform us."
"You didn't need to know!"
"Oh yes we did...and now...the project is being revoked, you will all be escorted to the base where Kate here will call back the rest of her team."
Prime growled, optics flicking to Cade as he questioned her, "...rest of your team...Kate what the hell is going on!?"
Tony answered by running up with a gun aimed and ready, the man in the suit fired off a shot instead, hitting him dead center, only Tony didn't drop to the ground.
He vanished.
"That's what is going on Mr. Yeager, Miss Katherine here hasn't just been providing sanctuary for the seven Autobots you were aware of, there's been two others here the whole time...Trey and Tony? Completely fake...the contract was to the letter, no others. And now you all suffer the consequences."
Prime roared out in anger, ready to blast both the man and Kate in a single shot, only stopping when a bullet managed to get under his armor, hitting something that started smoking. He growled, one servo pressing against his armor to stop the pain, grimacing as Kate was shoved onto her knees and handcuffed.
"I never should have trusted humans..."
Kate barked out a laugh, ending in a choking cough when one of the men punched her, sending her toppling to the side, "Is that so Prime?"
Optimus nearly stepped closer, stopping when a few more guns were aimed on him, glancing around he saw the other bots had already transformed for transport, none willing to fight, and that point neither was he, dropping his gun he bit out the burning thought in his processor. "You lied"
Struggling to get back on her knees, Kate glared, "So did you."
Dun Dun Duuuunn!
Thank you so much my lovely readers!